Social media has penetrated almost every aspect of life. They are useful as sources of news and information or as providers of entertainment. Also, they can now be used for shopping. But above all else, they are most known for communication.
Social media platforms’ primary purpose is to let people on the internet, well, socialize. As such, many of them popped up during the pandemic. The global health crisis made rise to a higher need for alternative ways to socialize. Social distancing measures made the usual methods unavailable.
Social Media Alternatives to Increase YouTube Views
This increase of platforms is a win for marketers. Brands have been leveraging social media platforms to connect to their consumers. That said, the more platforms available, the more ways they can reach them. This is why marketers still buy YouTube views despite myths and rumors that they don’t.
The thing is, a lot of these newcomers have questionable staying power. Are they going to stick post-pandemic? Or are they going to disappear along with the global health threat? It would be wise to analyze this first before you invest in these platforms.
“Why would it be worth the risk?” you might be asking right now. The answer is, there are lots of benefits from starting your account earlier than your competitors. First and foremost, you’ll have an idea of what marketing strategies work and don’t work there. Getting your hands on this knowledge before your competitors join will put a wide gap between the two of you. You will be already sailing smoothly while they are struggling, trying to come up with creative and original post ideas.
So, what are these platforms that have a high chance of gaining momentum later on? Finding these will be a little tricky. Lucky you, you don’t have to do it yourself. Here is a list of the new social media platforms marketers should add to their watchlists.
TikTok
TikTok is one platform that does not need an introduction. But here’s an overview anyway: TikTok is a platform focusing on short-form video content. It is widely popular among people 30 years old and below.
Like its predecessor Vine, you can record short clips on TikTok and play them on a repetitive loop. But, it also includes elements from Snapchat or Musical.ly – which merged with it in 2018. You can add background music, filters, and effects to your videos to add flavor to them and make them have more oomph.
There are many ways brands can utilize TikTok. Some use it to endorse their products through “Challenges” like Guess. Meanwhile, there are others that use TikTok to humanize their brand. For instance, you would expect The Washington Post to post news as it usually does. But instead, it posts behind-the-scenes looks at its newsroom. That lets people see the lighter side of the company, establishing a stronger connection between them.
TikTok is now more popular than Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social networking apps on app stores. It would be best to start incorporating it into your marketing strategies or at least start experimenting.
Instagram Reels
TikTok is such a force to reckon with that other platforms had to introduce similar features to keep their relevance. Instagram, for instance, has released Reels. This is now in direct competition with the Chinese-owned social media platform.
By the time you are reading this, you may already have many Instagram followers. You can keep them engaged and attract new ones by producing bite-sized video content in Reels. If you don’t have an idea on how to make interesting short-form content, you can rely on Instagram influencers. They will surely be of help.
Clubhouse
Sure, video chatting services are handy. But sometimes, people are too busy with what they are doing that they can’t pay attention to what’s going on on the screen. That is how audio-based services like Clubhouse found their way to prominence.
In contrast to the typical social media, Clubhouse offers synchronous audio-only connectivity between the speakers and the listeners. In Clubhouse, you can enter rooms where the speaker talks about a specific subject. It is similar to a podcast, except you can have the ability to converse with the speaker and the other attendees in the room.
Clubhouse was an invite-only platform until July 21, 2021, when it was released to the public. It is still relatively young. Marketers are still working on cracking the code on how they can use Clubhouse’s features to their advantage. You might consider joining them now or risk getting left out by competitors.
Twitter Spaces
You might already be on Twitter. So if you want, you can ignore Clubhouse and focus on Spaces instead. Twitter Spaces is similar in nature to Clubhouse. In fact, it was created because Clubhouse opened the eyes of social media giants to see the potential of audio-based networking.
One of Twitter’s focus points is to discover the opportunities and threats to this type of community. You can rest assured that the platform is doing its best to ensure Spaces is safe for everyone.
Brands can host Spaces to do training sessions or host customer Q&As. Likewise, they can create a Space to discuss content they posted or a high-traffic blog. Any of these will bring them closer to their consumers.
Caffeine
People -especially the young ones- love watching live streams, perhaps, because they are interactive. Live streams are broadcasted in real-time, and viewers can respond or converse with the content creator through comments.
The world already has YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch, all of which offer live streaming features. But one may also find looking at the newcomer, Caffeine, worth it. Ex-Apple designers built it, and it has the 21st Century Fox as its biggest investor. The platform is also already making waves in entertainment and sports. It is where the 2019 X Games in Aspen was broadcasted.
You can use Caffeine to showcase your products, do Q&As, show behind-the-scenes content, and many others. Ideas that are deemed bizarre and are risky to put on Facebook and Instagram. But they are welcome on Caffeine as it is a relatively young platform. There might not be many
established rules or norms regarding what content works and doesn’t yet.
Like any of the platforms included on this list, it would be wise to keep a close watch on Caffeine. And maybe test the waters while you are on it. Familiarizing oneself with them will put marketers in a better position than those who did not.